Fight erupts after man urinates near Redbox machine in Allentown

September 10, 2013|By Manuel Gamiz Jr., Of The Morning Call

A man urinating next to a Redbox kiosk outside a 7-Eleven in downtown Allentown early Saturday set off a fight in which several men used plastic crates as weapons and injured two people, according to court records.

Tajmeik Wade, 20, and Miguel Padilla, 33, both of Allentown, were charged after the fight. It began when Wade urinated next to the machine, and a man returning a movie took offense at his lack of manners, according to court records.

An Allentown police officer was driving past the convenience store, 102 N. Seventh St., at 2:38 a.m. Saturday when he saw a fight involving four or five men, according to court records.

When the officer turned in to the store's parking lot, three men ran. The two others had cuts on their faces.

According to a criminal complaint:

A man was returning a movie to the Redbox kiosk outside the 7-Eleven when a man, later identified as Wade, walked out of the store and urinated next to him. The man asked Wade why he didn't just go behind the building.

Another man, later identified as Padilla, got out of a car in the store's parking lot. Padilla was holding a knife and told the man that Wade could urinate wherever he wants.

The man ran around a car and Padilla followed him to the front of the store, where Wade punched him in the head.

The man grabbed a large plastic food crate to use as a shield, but Wade, Padilla and a third man also picked up crates and started swinging them at the man.

During the crate swinging, the man returning the movie was hit in the head and cut. He said one of the men also hit a store window with a crate, causing it to crack. It is unclear when the other person injured, a store employee, got hit in the head.

Wade and Padilla fled but were caught a few blocks away. Police did not say if the third person was caught.

Wade and Padilla were charged with simple assault, harassment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. They were arraigned by District Judge Donna Butler and sent to Lehigh County Prison under $8,000 bail each.

Padilla was also charged in a July 27 domestic assault case in Allentown. He has since posted bail.